About us

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate is a governmental specialist directorate and administrative body. Established in 1972, we report to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. Our main office is in Stavanger, with a second location in Harstad. The total staff is around 220.

Our primary objective is to contribute to the greatest possible values from the oil and gas activitites to the Norwegian soiciety, through efficient and responsible resource management. Health, safety, the environment and other users of the sea are important considerations in this work.

In order to make the most efficient contribution to this, we must perform four functions.

Our four functions

Through our professional integrity and interdisciplinary expertise, we are an adviser to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.

We have a national responsibility for the data from the Norwegian continental shelf. Our data, overview and analyses constitute a crucial factual basis on which the activities are founded.

We shall be a driving force for realising the resource potential by emphasising long-term solutions, upside opportunities, economies of scale and joint operations, as well as ensuring that time-critical resources are not lost.

In cooperation with other authorities, we shall ensure comprehensive follow-up of the petroleum activities.

We set frameworks, stipulates regulations and makes decisions in areas where it has been delegated authority. Further we are responsible for conducting metering audits and collecting fees from the petroleum industry. In addition, we contribute with administrative competence, mapping of resources and petroleum data administration for the aid programme the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.

Flexible organization

There are no sections or departments in the directorate, but about 80 teams with designated mandates and the teams are delegated authority for products, processes and quality.

Management functions rotate, and work communities are established and discontinued. There are about 220 employees joining and leaving teams; and they largely control how to distribute their time in the different teams themselves.

Main areas

Our values

We have four values we utilise in our daily work and want to live up to:

Open

Engaged

Responsible

Stand together

Our values form the basis for our culture. They reflect what we can expect of each other and how we work and act.

Our values build on the value foundation of the government’s employer policy: Government administration shall promote democracy and legal safeguards, and stand for professional integrity and effectiveness.